It’s Like the N.B.A., Minus the Money, Fame and Fans

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Gabe Freeman, a forward with the St. John Mill Rats of the National Basketball League of Canada, after the team’s bus broke down on the way to a game last month. “You think professional basketball is all peaches and cream until you actually get here,” he said.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

By Scott Cacciola

Feb. 12, 2016

ST. JOHN, New Brunswick — In the early stages of their snowy drive to Nova Scotia last month, the St. John Mill Rats occupied themselves as best they could. Their bus featured a couple of rare luxuries: an outlet for a flash drive and a small television that Ricky Volcy, a veteran center, used to play movies that he had downloaded. The volume was spotty, but nobody complained.

It could have been worse. Until this season, the Mill Rats traveled the eastern half of Canada aboard a small school bus, with Ian McCarthy, the team’s president and general manager, behind the wheel. The vehicle was neither spacious nor lavish. It also took several months for the team to figure out that there was an operational heater.

“No heat, bro!” Volcy recalled.

The Mill Rats now charter their travel through a bus company. But these are still basketball vagabonds who, far removed from sneaker endorsements and seven-figure contracts, inhabit a world of bus rides in blizzards, of budget hotels, and of all the fast food they can consume with their $30 per diems.

The Mill Rats play in the National Basketball League of Canada, a fledgling circuit with eight teams in four provinces. Five seasons into its existence, the N.B.L. operates as a speck in the shadow cast by the N.B.A., which will hold its annual All-Star Game on Sunday at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

At a time when basketball in Canada has never been more popular, thanks to the influence of the Toronto Raptors and an influx into the N.B.A. of young, homegrown stars like Andrew Wiggins, the N.B.L. continues to search for eyeballs, sponsors and — perhaps most important — dependable transportation.

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The Mill Rats’ Anthony Stover shooting a free throw against the Halifax Hurricanes. The Mill Rats, despite arriving late because of their bus problems, won, 105-100.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

On that Wednesday afternoon last month, the Mill Rats were en route to a game against the Halifax Hurricanes when they stopped for a bathroom break. It was 4 p.m., and they were about an hour north of Halifax — plenty of time to make the 7 p.m. tipoff.

Then, without warning, their bus wheezed coming out of the parking lot. Rob Spon, the team’s tireless coach, leaned forward in his seat.

“Everything all right up there, Bob?” he asked.

Bob Kinley, the 70-year-old driver, pressed the gas pedal to the floorboard, but the bus continued to sputter along Nova Scotia Highway 102, a line of cars streaming past. Something was seriously wrong. Several players suggested that Volcy’s flash drive had infected the bus with a virus: “Take Ricky’s thing out!”

In the back, Anthony Anderson, the league’s career leading scorer, pulled a winter cap low on his forehead and closed his eyes.

Anderson never expected that he would become the face of the N.B.L. That is not how hoop dreams work, especially for a point guard from Lynn, Mass. But he has seen the game grow in New Brunswick, where he now lives year round. During the summer, he runs camps and organizes a pro-am league. An enormous banner of the 5-foot-11 Anderson hangs on the side of Harbour Station, the 6,600-seat arena where the Mill Rats play their home games.

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From left, Anderson, Ricky Volcy, Denny McDonald and Stover. Why does Anderson, at 34, continue to play despite the hardships? “Because it’s basketball,” he said.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

Anderson, 34, still feels that he never got a solid crack at the N.B.A. Did scouts think he would have trouble defending bigger guards? Were his numbers at Massachusetts, where he averaged 11.3 points a game as a four-year starter, too modest for him to be noticed?

But he has also come to accept his place in the game, as a high-profile player in a lesser league. There is a purity to the pursuit. Why else would he, and so many of his teammates, be here? Not for the money. Not for the fame.

“Because it’s basketball,” he said.

At the moment, though, here in the middle of extra nowhere, he was just ready to get off this broken-down bus.

A Low-Budget League

The day before the Mill Rats left for Halifax, they gathered for practice at the Y.M.C.A. of Greater St. John in this small industrial city on the Bay of Fundy.

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Anthony Anderson, the league’s career leading scorer, at practice at the Y.M.C.A. of Greater St. John last month. Most players in the N.B.L. earn less than $3,000 a month.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

Anderson, who insisted on practicing despite being hampered by a sore left hamstring, was joined by a motley crew — teammates like Gabe Freeman, a lanky forward from Phoenix and the Mill Rats’ only licensed mechanic, and Anthony Stover, a former reserve center at U.C.L.A.

Stover said he had received more lucrative offers from teams overseas — N.B.L. clubs are subject to a salary cap of 150,000 Canadian dollars (less than $108,000), spread among 12 players — but was lured to St. John after playing for Spon last season with the Rochester RazorSharks of the Premier Basketball League.

“I came here specifically because I wanted to win a championship with these guys,” Stover said.

At practice, Volcy took a seat as a spectator. His knees were causing him problems, most likely the result of his work as a 6-8 center. But Volcy, one of four Canadians on the roster, was not sure exactly what was causing his discomfort.

“You would have to ask Miss Cathy,” he said.

Cathy Simon is the team’s physiotherapist. Once upon a time, the league received sponsorship money from a large communications company. But that deal dried up, and the Mill Rats work to make ends meet. Simon, for example, provides her services essentially in exchange for free advertising. She even uses her own medical supplies.

“They’re very appreciative,” said Simon, who had eight of the players over to her family’s home for Christmas Eve. “They know they’re spoiled.”

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The Mill Rats stopped for fast food during their chaotic trip to Halifax, which lasted about seven hours.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

The N.B.L., with a 40-game regular season from late December through April, is not a big-budget operation. Consider that Carmelo Anthony, due to earn $23 million with the Knicks this season, makes more than 200 times as much as the entire Mill Rats roster. Most players earn 2,000 to 4,000 Canadian dollars a month.

“Ian tries to help us out by getting us as many meals as possible — discounts at places like Rocky’s and Jungle Jim’s,” Stover said, referring to McCarthy, the team’s president. “Pro basketball can be tough. It’s not as glamorous as it may seem.”

Teams save money whenever possible. Lodging on the road is an extravagance — four teams are based in Ontario, and four are scattered across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island — so players grow accustomed to snowy round-trip bus rides on game days.

Despite these measures, McCarthy said, only one or two franchises are profitable. The Mill Rats average about 1,800 fans at their home games, he said. The league has also been trying to recover from a bizarre conclusion to the 2014-15 season.

On April 30, before Game 7 of the N.B.L. finals, the Halifax Rainmen showed up several hours early for their game-day shootaround in Windsor, Ontario. One of the coaches from the Windsor Express confronted a player from Halifax, and a brawl ensued. By the time the police arrived, the Rainmen were on a bus bound for the airport.

The fallout was something to behold: Windsor won the championship by forfeit, and the league punished nearly everyone from the Halifax team, barring the coach for life, levying fines and suspending 11 players. The franchise subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

“It was horrible for the league,” Volcy said. “I’ve got agents who call me to ask, ‘What is going on up there?’ ”

In an attempt to wipe away the stain of the entire episode, the team from Halifax rebranded under a new ownership group before the 2015-16 season — the club is now known as the Hurricanes — and overhauled the roster. The league introduced policies that included drug testing and a new dress code.

“They’re trying to make it more respectable,” Anderson said. “You have to have things like that in place.”

After practice that Tuesday, Spon reminded his players of more pressing business. The Mill Rats had two important games against Halifax coming up: on the road Wednesday and at home Thursday. Their bus would leave promptly at noon the next day.

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Freeman after the team stopped at an auto repair shop in Truro, Nova Scotia.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

On Wednesday, St. John was already coated with several inches of snow when the team’s charter bus embarked on the 260-mile trip to Halifax. Several players introduced themselves to Johnny Mayhane, a guard who had just signed with the Mill Rats after an unfulfilling two-month stint with a team in Mexico.

A thought occurred to Spon: There was only one way to get to Halifax, and that road often shut down in inclement weather. He turned to Kinley, the bus driver.

“Bob,” Spon said, “if that road’s closed, we can’t get to Halifax, right?”

Spon already knew the answer. Kinley recalled a trip when he “got stuck at the pass” for 18 hours, a breezy anecdote that did not inspire much confidence among the Mill Rats. Fortunately, after a phone call, they learned that the road was open — for now, at least.

The bus was large enough for each of the players to occupy two seats, and Anderson settled in for the ride. He recalled the old days when McCarthy drove the bus himself, although he was prone to distraction.

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The bus company sent a replacement vehicle for the Mill Rats, but their transportation woes were not over.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

“Dudes would be in the back texting Ian to tell him to stop texting,” Anderson said.

Anderson and McCarthy met in 2006, when McCarthy spotted Anderson playing at a summer tournament in Fall River, Mass. His skills were obvious.

“I started asking people: ‘Who’s that? Where does he play?’ ” McCarthy said. “They said, ‘His name is Anthony Anderson, and he doesn’t play anywhere.’ I said, ‘What?’ ”

At the time, Anderson was working as a debt collector to help support his family. But McCarthy eventually persuaded him to join the Manchester Millrats (one word, not two), a team that was beginning in New Hampshire as an expansion member of the American Basketball Association.

Slowed by an injured collarbone during his first few weeks with the Millrats, Anderson was set to make his debut on the road against Halifax. After a 10-hour bus ride from New Hampshire, Anderson played sparingly in the first half. He went straight to McCarthy at halftime.

“Listen,” McCarthy recalled telling the coach, “this kid is really good. Give him a chance. He’s going to quit if you don’t do him right.”

Anderson emerged as the best player in the league, averaging 23 points and 5 assists a game. He secured a three-day tryout with the Indiana Pacers and went on to play for clubs in Cyprus and Poland. He had chosen an itinerant life, so he was not terribly surprised when he reconnected with McCarthy in 2010 and got some unexpected news: The Millrats were moving to Canada.

Anderson was intrigued. Montreal? Toronto? Not exactly.

In St. John, the Mill Rats (now two words) share their downtown arena with the Sea Dogs, a team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. McCarthy, who owns 35 percent of the Mill Rats, said the arena was a major factor in the move. He has continued to lean on Anderson for stability, and as a lure for other talented players. It also helped that Anderson met Morris, his girlfriend.

Anderson noticed Morris after a game not long after he moved to St. John. One of her friends was dating an assistant coach, and Anderson introduced himself. They recently bought a home together and have a 9-month-old son, Jacari. Anderson likes to point out that Jacari is already tall — in the 97th percentile for a child his age.

“He’s a monster,” Anderson said.

Anderson has seen pretty much everything during his time in the N.B.L. It is a grind. By the end of the season, the Mill Rats will have played each of the other three teams in their division at least 10 times. The unbalanced schedule creates an unusual dynamic.

“There are no secrets,” he said. “We’re just beating each other up all the time.”

Anderson expected more of the same against Halifax that night — but he was suddenly sensing some commotion at the front of the bus.

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Guard Corey Allmond on the team’s replacement bus. He later made a critical 3-pointer in the Mill Rats’ victory. They returned home after 5 a.m.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

Turmoil and Triumph

About 60 miles outside Halifax, Kinley was struggling to guide the bus to safety. Spon summoned Freeman, the team’s resident mechanic, to offer some insight. Back home in Phoenix, Freeman owns a motorcycle shop. He does not need to play basketball anymore. But he still loves the game, he said, and still wants to chase championships, even if he does it in relative obscurity.

“You think professional basketball is all peaches and cream until you actually get here,” Freeman said. “You work for this money. Playing ball is the easy part.”

Freeman suspected that the bus had a faulty relay switch, but he might as well have been speaking German to his teammates. His mood soured — “Stuff like this shouldn’t happen,” he said — as Kinley pulled into a repair shop in Truro, Nova Scotia. It was after 5 p.m. The bus company had dispatched a replacement vehicle to retrieve the Mill Rats, but the minutes were ticking away.

Finally, at 6, the new bus rolled up — a big white school bus. Garrius Holloman, a forward from Wichita, Kan., started to laugh.

“They’re going to think we broke out!” he said. “This is a real penitentiary bus!”

About seven hours after leaving St. John, the Mill Rats strode through a back entrance at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax — 20 minutes after the game’s scheduled start. In an act of modest benevolence, league officials gave the players about 30 minutes to change, get their ankles taped and warm up. A crowd of several hundred waited patiently in the bleachers.

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Freeman and the Mill Rats’ mascot signed autographs the next night after another win over Halifax, this one at home.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

It was absurd, Spon said, to expect his players to unfold their bodies and produce high-level basketball. Yet the Mill Rats did just that. Freeman scored 25 points, Corey Allmond made a huge 3-pointer, and the Mill Rats escaped with a 105-100 victory. Stover, who finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks, approached a group of hecklers afterward — and gave them all hugs.

“Those guys were hilarious,” said Stover, who was pleased with his triple-double. “I just texted my agent, ‘Get me some money, man!’ ”

In the locker room, Spon looked spent.

“That’s a heck of a win,” he said.

Outside the arena around 11 p.m., the Mill Rats got back on the bus. They had a four-hour ride to St. John ahead of them, assuming everything went according to plan.

Of course, not long after they left Halifax, more problems surfaced.

First, Holloman realized that he had left his cellphone on the team’s original bus, the one that was marooned at the repair shop in Truro. Second, the “check engine” light on the new bus began to flash. It was a disconcerting development accompanied by a high-pitched alarm and the distinct scent of burning rubber. Kinley, so determined at the wheel for much of the day, looked as if he might cry.

Freeman suggested that one of the brake lines might be frozen, which sounded ominous. Spon directed Kinley to return to the shop in Truro so Holloman could retrieve his phone and the new bus could be inspected. Several players whimpered.

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Volcy, a veteran center and one of four Canadians on the St. John roster, during the home win over Halifax.CreditMichelle Siu for The New York Times

It was well after midnight when they arrived, only to find that the shop was closed. When Spon called a 24-hour service number, he was informed that the shop assessed a $300 fee for someone to come out and open it. Spon characterized this piece of information as a “shakedown.” He haggled the voice on the other end down to $40.

A half-hour later, a sleepy-looking man arrived to unlock the shop. Holloman found his phone, but they were stuck with the debilitated bus. While Kinley expressed confidence that he could make it back to St. John, others were less certain.

“We’re never going to get home,” said Allmond, a guard from Oxon Hill, Md.

Dinner came in the form of a roadside gas station’s finest provisions. Anderson splurged on a chocolate bar, a can of Pringles and two bottles of Powerade. Allmond devoured an enormous bag of barbecue potato chips. It was 2 a.m.

“I’m so hungry, it tastes like chicken,” Allmond said.

Just after 5 a.m., the bus turned into the team’s apartment complex. The players grabbed their belongings and shuffled away in search of sleep. They had another game in 14 hours.

On to the Next Challenge

When the players began to congregate for their home game against Halifax the next night, Mike Armstrong looked particularly bleary-eyed, which was understandable: He had spent the day making deliveries for a water company.

“I probably got an hour of sleep,” he said.

Back when the Mill Rats moved to town, Armstrong worked as one of the team’s ball boys. No one cared much about basketball at the time, he said. Like most of his teenage friends, Armstrong played hockey. But the Mill Rats slowly went about building their brand.

“People in school would say, ‘Hey, someday you could be a Mill Rat!’ ” Armstrong recalled.

The lone native of St. John on the roster, Armstrong is now a 6-11 center. He mostly collects dust toward the end of the bench, earning a meager salary — thus, his day job with the water company. Not that he minds.

“Getting to the point where I’m actually playing with these guys is unbelievable,” he said.

Everyone knows the league could use a big sponsor, which sounds simple enough. But McCarthy said businesses were still much more likely to pour their marketing dollars into hockey.

“It’s Canada,” he said.

McCarthy agonizes over ways to expand the team’s fan base. So the Mill Rats run summer camps. They stage crazy giveaways. They sign dozens of autographs after games. But mostly they try to win.

At Harbour Station that night, the Mill Rats continued to play well. Stover blocked shots, Allmond sank jumpers and Anderson directed the offense.

“There were years when, if Double-A wasn’t scoring 25, we’d get run out of the building,” McCarthy said, referring to Anderson by his nickname. “But he’s got more help now.”

The Mill Rats went on to defeat the Hurricanes for the second time in two nights, a big early-season swing. Afterward, Anderson bundled up in a parka and grabbed a box of pizza from the locker room.

He has mulled an end to all of this. He knows his career has an expiration date.

“The plan was to get through this season and see,” Anderson said. “But I don’t feel old, right? You get to a point where everything hurts. I don’t feel that way when I’m out on the court.”

Yet even as he weighs the challenges, he knows he will have a hard time letting go. All the late nights, all the gas-station dinners, all the broken-down buses — in Canada, the struggle is part of the appeal.